Tax returns late for 3 million people

Tax refunds for more than 3 million people will be held up until February because of Congress’ late fix to the alternative minimum tax, Internal Revenue Officials said this week.

Congress put a one-year freeze on growth of the alternative minimum tax last week, protecting some middle-income taxpayers from first exposure to the tax.

But the late action means the IRS won’t be able to start AMT forms until February.

As many as 13.5 million people will have to wait until Feb. 11 to start filing with the five AMT-related forms, but the IRS said filing patterns show only between 3 million to 4 million of those people file during the early tax season.